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One of the first worlds settled by humans, Rochelle featured a large amount of mineral resources that could be easily exploited, abundant surface water, and rich soil perfect for agriculture. Though after the fall of the Terran Alliance it joined the Federation of Skye, eventually Rochelle would become part of the Free Worlds League.[1]Captain-GeneralPeter Marik captured Rochelle in 2417 or 2418 as part of a military campaign against the Lyran Commonwealth in response to Lyran efforts to capture the world of Dieudonne. Peter Marik intentionally went against the wishes of the Free Worlds League Parliament when he seized control of Rochelle; the Parliament was attempting to create an armistice, but Peter felt that the mining operations on Rochelle outweighed the concerns of Parliament, and was able to capture Rochelle in part because of how lightly defended the planet was. Peter's actions in capturing Rochelle brought him into direct conflict with Parliament, resulting in Parliament producing the War Powers Act, severely limiting the authority given to the Captain-General.[3]

During the first two Succession Wars, Rochelle was the victim of strikes by nuclear and chemical weapons, which poisoned most of the world and destroyed its industrial infrastructure.[1] During a lull in the conflict in 2863 that presaged the eventual armistice ending the Second Succession War Captain-General Philippa Marik - who had assumed the title after the death of her brother Gerald in 2861 - came under increasing pressure to disband part of the Free Worlds League Military to allow funding to be redirected to reconstruct the League's damaged industrial base, and to relinquish the powers available to her under Resolution 288. Philippa resisted both calls, but did dispatch some of her surviving enclaves of scientists to Rochelle to help rebuild the industrial base there, as well as to the worlds of Andurien, Danais and Ryerson. Unfortunately, the scientists found Rochelle to be virtually unsalvageable.[32]

The Free Worlds League government attempted to evacuate Rochelle,[32] but despite this a hardcore group of inhabitants remained behind to mine the ores needed by the Free Worlds League. Despite the best effort of local and regional governments and citizens, the population continued to decline and the economy continued to falter. Alongside these downward trends was the loss of more and more infrastructure, thus perpetuating the cycle of decline.[1]

During the Jihad the Lyran Commonwealth raided the world in retaliation for attacks they thought came from the FWL. These raids smashed more infrastructure and destroyed the capital city, accelerating the world's decline. Only after the world was ceded to the Republic of the Sphere and large numbers of new colonists arrived has the planet's situation started to reverse. Rebuilding the capital city was the first step and expanding the spaceport was the second. The expanded spaceport is able to ship the output of the mines off-world, bringing back much needed revenue.[1]